The New York Times reports, “Early on Monday morning Eastern time, the astronauts of Artemis II will enter the lunar sphere of influence, when the pull of the moon’s gravity becomes stronger than Earth’s. That is when their spacecraft will start speeding up for the main event of the 10-day mission, swinging around the moon for a first close-up look by astronauts in more than 53 years.”
Full Story (New York Times – Subscription Publication)
Tag: Lunar Orbit
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Lander Now in Lunar Orbit
Spaceflight Now reports, “A robotic lander from Texas-based Firefly Aerospace is now in orbit around the Moon and going through its final preparations to land in the coming weeks. On Thursday, the company announced that its Blue Ghost lander fired its main engine and thrusters for four minutes and 15 seconds in a maneuver called the Lunar Orbit Insertion, which put it in an elliptical orbit around the Moon.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Artemis I Orion to Depart Lunar Orbit
Aviation Week reports that well beyond “the halfway point of the 25-1/2 day Artemis I test flight, NASA’s Orion crew capsule is prepared to depart its Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) around the Moon to return home for a Dec. 11 splashdown off the coast of San Diego, California.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)